Thursday, May 21, 2009

Service = Love

So I have been trying to learn more about the Love of God this year, and I have found something that has helped me a LOT as a mother.

In all of my searching and learning, it seams that the greatest way to feel and show love, is to serve.
When Christ came to the earth, he spent his entire life serving. Even in the Atonement and also in the way that he died, he was serving the entire world.
And he also tells us that the best way to show our love to him, is to serve others as well.

As a mom, I find that I am serving my kids all day long. (Changing diapers, cleaning faces, washing clothes and on and on)
BUT, I think all of these acts of service have turned into “to do” lists, chores, and almost job like. (Let’s face it, changing that NASTY diaper doesn’t make me feel a whole lot of love!)

So I have decided that I really need to serve my children more then I do. The more I serve them, the more we will feel that love in our home. And the more love that is in a home, the better children will behave.

So I decided to focus on doing an act of service for one child, each day of the week. For example, the day I focused on serving Tyler, was Monday. I didn’t do something GRAND, but I did make sure that I did something out of the ordinary. Something that would let him see that I love him and that I was trying to serve him.
His reaction was amazing. You could tell he felt my love for him FAR better then me just telling him. In fact, HE was the one telling me over and over again how much he loved ME after the service was performed. It was awesome!!!

So the following day was Audrey, then Nathan the next. When it came to Morgan’s “service” day, I kept thinking “how in the world do you serve a baby in a way that they will see your love and know you are doing something extra special?”
It was very simple, but it is all I could come up with. I rocked her to sleep.

Now when you have four kids, taking that time to rock a baby to sleep is like gold!!! It is definitely something I will not, nor should not do every time. But I must say that doing that act of service for my little baby, was so special. I felt so much love for her and I think she could feel it too.

This is a practice I intend to keep doing for years and years to come! It has helped me to look at my children differently. I have always loved them. That is not a question. But that love is made so much stronger through service. It’s just amazing!!!

3 comments:

Jess said...

I like this idea. I've been trying to think of a special way to let my kids know how much I care. This helps motivate me even more!

Alicia said...

Wow! This is an awesome idea. Love it!!!

Collin & Elizabeth said...

That made me choke up for some reason. Thanks for your constant awesome example dray. I love you so much and thanks for ALL your service to my family! muah..and miss you tons.